Chương 125: Chapter 120 – A Shield Between Friends

Chelsea lay on her stomach beneath the shade tree behind the manor, chin propped on her folded arms while the grass tickled the underside of her wings. Bradford sat nearby in his aquarium so as not to destroy the field of wildflowers that were still blooming even five months later.

"So," Chelsea said.

"That could've gone better." Freya glanced down at her.

"The Ivy reunion?"

"Yes, the Ivy reunion." Chelsea sighed and rolled onto her side staring across the field.

"I keep replaying it. I don't even know what I wanted to happen. I think part of me wanted her to cry and apologize and hug me, and then everything would magically be fine. Which is stupid. It wouldn't have been fine."

"No," Freya said.

"It wouldn't have."

"But seeing her with someone else was…" Chelsea stopped and pressed her fingers into the grass.

"I don't know. I hated it. Then I hated myself for hating it because I knew she was hurting too." Freya stayed quiet for a moment. The wind moved through the shade tree, making the leaves shift softly overhead.

"Sometimes the hardest part isn't deciding if someone hurt you," Freya said.

"It's deciding what their reasons are worth." Chelsea looked up at her, squinting.

"That was depressingly wise."

"I have my moments."

"You also have your weird moments." Chelsea barked out a laugh. Freya raised her eyebrows. Chelsea sat up, brushing grass from the front of her dress.

"Speaking of weird moments, what was up with your reaction to Fiona's baby?" Freya's expression didn't change much, but Chelsea knew her well enough now to notice the tiny pause before she answered.

"It's an unborn child. I've never blessed one before."

"Uh-huh. Go on." I spoke to it. I pulled it into my domain space, like I can do with you. It, obviously couldnt speak back because well… Unborn child. But I told it it was loved and had an amazing family waiting for it." Freya looked away first, which was basically a confession in goddess language. Chelsea narrowed her eyes.

"You're hiding something."

"It's a bit of a surprise. Let it go for now." Freya replied, casually.

"Fine." Chelsea reached out and played with one of the flowers.

"You think Bodarex had anything to do with the events that have been happening?" Freya's head whipped around to Chelsea almost too fast.

"Why do you think that?"

"Well, think about it. Ivy, the girl who I was in love with and… I thought was in love with me too, all of a sudden gets jealous and starts making rash decisions. Including climbing into bed…" Chelsea cleared her throat.

"It kind of has Bodarex written all over it."

"You're not wrong." Freya nodded along with the logic.

"Could you reach out to him? He hasn't come to see me since before I left for Valhalla. I have not clue how to get him to talk to me." Freya grimaced.

"He's a true god. They don't tend to… reply to made gods like me."

"But you could try?" Chelsea asked. Freya looked down at her. Chelsea looked up at Freya with pleading eyes. She needed answers.

"Fine." She answered with a sigh.

"But I can't promise anything."

"Yes!" Chelsea fist pumped.

"You're the best!" The two of them stood in empty white space.

"Oh gods, this is so embarrassing. I haven't been back in a while so it reverted back to this. Hope this doesn't send you into an existential crisis." Chelsea looked around at the blank nothingness. There were no walls or really… anything solid beneath them. After everything she'd seen, it barely ranked in the top ten strangest things that had happened to her recently.

"I've been in both Magalesa's and Bodarex's domains. This is not far off from what theirs look like all the time," she explained.

"Well that's good. Heard that seeing this can give some mortals depression? I don't get how. Not even sure it's true." Chelsea turned slowly, taking in the endless white with growing curiosity rather than concern.

"So is this your room? Or is it Valhalla?"

"Oh no. It's my room. Valhalla is everything I built around my room. My room is my actual domain. Valhalla is a level thirteen civilization." She said, proudly.

"Fascinating." Freya shifted as if the blankness had become more embarrassing the longer Chelsea looked at it.

"So, I am probably going to have to kick you out while I reach out to Bodarex. I don't know the effects this could have on you and I kind of like you a little bit."

"Aww, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," Chelsea joked.

"Oh shut up," Freya laughed, pushing lightly on Chelsea's horn.

"Do you want me to go with you? Then come back to do the meeting?"

"No. It's fine. Talk to him. I will go… I don't know, take a nap on Bradford? If someone decides to come visit me then I will deal."

"OK. Good luck." Freya tipped Chelsea's head up with a finger beneath her chin. For a moment, Chelsea expected another joke. Instead, Freya only looked at her with quiet fondness.

"Yeah. I definitely like you a little bit." Chelsea removed her right gauntlet and reached up with both hands, scratching gently at Freya's scalp the way she knew the goddess liked. Freya's eyes closed for a brief second, and Chelsea smiled despite herself.

"Well I like you a medium amount." Chelsea exited the white void through the familiar door, which closed lightly after her. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. She was standing alone in the hallway. For a few seconds, she remained there with her hand still near the handle, feeling the strange shift between Freya's domain and the solid hallway of Valhalla. The white emptiness had been unsettling in theory, but the hallway felt weird. Too normal.

Yet the last time she was here, she was broken. She decided Bradford was where she wanted to be along with Looty. She had both of them with her, so she started down the stairs to the main hall. She would be pleasant to anyone who spoke to her, but she wouldn't make any attempt to start a conversation. That was the most she had in her at the moment. She made it down the stairs and saw Freedom, Principle, and Truth seated at a table. Truth noticed her first and nodded for the other two to take note that she was back.

Chelsea didn't stick around. She kept walking toward the front door, and as her hand reached for the pull, she fully expected that to be the moment someone said something. No one did. The silence was nice. She walked a few feet down the steps, released her wings, and took off toward the pastures. Nothing seemed to have changed. She had only been gone five or six days, and life had moved on here.

Chelsea hadn't expected Valhalla to come to a complete halt, but with Freya gone from the common spaces, she'd expected something to feel different. Instead, the pastures were still wide and green, the distant animals still moved in lazy clusters, and the air still carried the open freshness she had come to associate with this crazy place. She landed around the usual spot and set Bradford down. When he reached his full size, she jumped and added a flap. Her flight was getting better.

That single flap almost carried her high enough to reach the top of his shell. She added a second flap and touched down in the flowers. She looked back and loudly said, "Please walk around Bradford, but look out for other animals." The familiar sway of his gait began, and Chelsea walked to her tree. She wanted to take a nap, but she wasn't really tired. Instead, she settled onto her back in the wildflowers, reached into her new second unenchanted pouch, and carefully pulled out Looty.

The little mimic larva fit in her palm, small and familiar, and Chelsea smiled as she set her gently on her chest. Looty sat there, harmless and adorable, rising and falling with Chelsea's breathing. Chelsea rested one hand near her without quite covering her. She didn't know if Looty cared about being talked to. She didn't even know how much of anything Looty understood. But the tiny weight on her chest helped. So she talked. She told Looty about going home, and.. Everything.

She spilled everything that had happened to her going all the way back to before the battle. The mimic didn't answer. She did open her lid for a moment to look at Chelsea with her adorable little eyes. That made Chelsea smile.

"There's my little princess." Chelsea wasn't sure she wanted answers from her. She just wanted something small and safe to exist near her.

"Umm Chelsea?" Chelsea stopped talking. She closed her eyes for a second before sitting up carefully, one hand catching Looty so the little girl didn't slide off her chest. Suffering had crept up and was sitting across from her in the flowers, watching with the cautious expression everyone seemed to use around Chelsea lately.

"Suffering!" Chelsea exclaimed.

"I missed you. How have you been this past week?"

"We've been good. How about yourself?" She was talking delicately to Chelsea. Chelsea shifted Looty into her lap and smoothed one finger along the tiny mimic.

"Pretty… uh… lots happened."

"I heard you went home," she replied. Chelsea looked up with confusion on her face.

"How did you… who told you I went home?" Suffering hesitated before finally saying, "Passion." Chelsea's hand stilled against Looty.

"And how did she know? As far as I know Freya didn't tell anyone."

"Oh!" Suffering said, startled.

"You don't know?" She fidgeted with one of the flowers to her right, rolling the stem between her fingers until the petals trembled.

"She's here with me. She didn't want to come up on your turtle without permission. Feel free to say 'no' because gods know I would. But she is hoping to speak with you. Both Deceit and I can be here if you want. We are completely on your side." Chelsea looked down at Looty in her lap. The little mimic rested against the fold of her dress, silent and adorable, and Chelsea brushed her thumb over her carefully before setting her aside in the flowers.

Her armor made the movement awkward, but she brought her legs up to her chest anyway and locked her arms around them.

"Umm…" She could talk tough earlier. She could make plans when Passion wasn't directly in front of her. Now faced with the possibility of seeing her, Chelsea wasn't sure of anything. After a few dozen seconds, she finally said, "OK. But please yes to you and Deceit."

"Sure." Suffering stood and walked to the edge of Bradford's shell. She looked over the side, then gave some sort of hand signal. As she did, Chelsea reached into her bag and pulled out the grip of her shield, pulling it out. She started adding titles to ensure she was at her maximum strength. She was ready to trigger spectral sky lances and spectral scythes. Finally, she closed out of her status screen. Chelsea hugged her legs tighter and tried to breathe normally while she waited.

The sway of Bradford's steps continued beneath her, steady and familiar. In the distance, wings beat against the open air. A Pegasus and a griffin rose toward them with two riders, then landed carefully on Bradford's broad back. Chelsea started quivering the moment she saw Passion. She hated it. She hated how weak she felt just looking at her friend. She was the same woman. She wore the same familiar face and body, and was the same person who had laughed with her and trained with her.

Chelsea kept telling herself it was a misunderstanding. She had been telling herself that for a while now. The two approached. Chelsea pulled her legs in tighter with her arms. When they were about ten feet away, Passion and Deceit stopped.

"Chelsea," Passion said. She sat down at the edge of the shade, leaving the space between them open.

"Please. I am so so sorry. Please know I never wanted to hurt you." Chelsea sat there in silence and listened. Passion's voice was gentle in a way Chelsea had never heard from her before.

"I heard," Chelsea started, then paused. Her throat tightened around the words. She looked at Passion more carefully, searching for damage now that she had the nerve to really see her.

"I heard someone punished you. I'm sorry. You didn't deserve to be punished for that."

"She didn't tell you?" Passion asked.

"Who?" Chelsea asked.

"Your mom," Passion said quietly, as if mentioning her would summon the monster. Chelsea's eyes opened wide.

"What did she do to you?" Her gaze dropped to Passion's limbs, eyes, and fingers. She looked for anything missing that might tell her how far Adriane had gone. Passion was alive, which was something, but Chelsea knew better than most that alive didn't always mean untouched. Passion shook her head.

"I don't really want to relive it."

"Wixx training?" Chelsea asked with a grimace. Passion nodded. Changing the topic quickly, she said, "I had your servicer destroyed. I'm going to talk with Jibjib tomorrow to see if we can get you something female."

"Don't worry about it," Chelsea said.

"It's a long story, but I went to meet up with Ivy and found her in bed with a woman. I won't need a servicer." Passion gasped.

"Chels. I'm so sorry!"

"Shee thought I killed her brother before leaving for Valhalla." Chelsea adjusted the strap on her shield. Then she patted the dirt beside her for Passion to join her. The larger woman crawled over slowly and sat down where Chelsea had indicated, careful not to brush against her.

"You probably hate me don't you?" Passion asked.

"No," Chelsea said simply.

"Not scared of you either." She held up the shield.

"This is for my mental stability. Not for protecting me from you." Passion remained silent, but she nodded along. Chelsea looked at the shield for another moment before asking quietly, "Did she use a tree?"

"I think I may have missed the first part of the question." Passion said, confused.

"My mother," Chelsea said.

"Did she use a tree for it?"

"Oh," Passion said slowly.

"No. The training complex floor." She seemed to think about the answer again, and her face changed with the memory.

"She really did that to you?" Passion asked in a whisper. Chelsea let out a light laugh.

"Yeah. It sucked."

"She didn't make it very far on me," Passion explained.

"Chelsea, we all assumed you were just this spoiled rich girl who got everything handed to you from your mother but…" She shook her head.

"How could she be so cruel?"

"She's not. I'm sure it looks that way but she really is the sweetest. In her own way." Silence fell between them. Chelsea watched the flowers move around Looty where she'd left... uh oh... Looty was missing. Chelsea looked around curiously, then she spotted her. The little girl seemed to put herself between Chelsea and Passion. A small smile tugged at Chelsea's lips. Passion hadn't noticed her and put her hand within range. Looty struck.

She used her tongue to rock back and forth a few times before falling onto Passion's hand while clamping down. Was Looty trying to punish Passion too? The giant woman looked down at her, unconcerned. Chelsea, hesitantly reached over and grabbed Looty, removing her from the situation. After a few awkward seconds, Chelsea broke the silence.

"Passion, I don't know that I'll ever be able to fogive you for what you did. Like ever. But I am willing to talk.?"

"That..." passion nodded and swallowed hard.

"OK. That's all I want." Passion replied, looking over at Chelsea.

"OK." Chelsea nodded, forcing herself to look up at her.